COMMUNITY FORUM

plumbing

Every hour or so, our master bathroom pipes starts to hum and then sounds like the pipes are vibratring. The noise has been getting louder and seems to vibrate for longer. Then it stops and is quiet again for a while. Any answer to my dilema?

Helen

LonnythePlumber

03:34PM | 12/30/04

The most common cause is the toilet seeping water requiring the ballcock to refill. Remove the tank lid and see if it relates to the sound. Or shut off the water into the toilet to see if it effects the sound.

If it doesn't you can shut off your hot water at the heater and see if the noise stops and if not then shut off the water to the house. Sometimes pipes against duct work can create noise.

a similar problem was shown on ask this old house. combination of leaky flapper valve and worn seal in the ballcock. they replaced the flapper to prevent leakage and replaced the ballcock (fill valve) to stop the noise.